All Natural Dog Food – Raw Dog Food – Grain-free, Homemade Pet Food
meet our staff
Ward is the co-owner and proprietor of Sojos. He is our in-house animal nutritionist and is a passionate advocate for raw foods. He studied holistic nutrition for pets at The Uptown Veterinarian, a holistic practice in Minneapolis, MN for two years prior to purchasing Sojos in 1996. Aside from pets, his passions include golf and basketball (when he’s not injured). He also plays keyboards for the Twin City’s cheesiest 80’s cover band, Sweet ‘Stache.
Ward’s wife Maggie is the co-owner and VP of Marketing and HR. Prior to taking an active role at Sojos in 2003, Maggie worked for American Express for 8 years as an account manager and trainer. She has a Master’s degree in Organizational Development from the University of St. Thomas and originally hails from Green Bay, WI (which causes much unrest in the Johnson household come football season). She’s also a board member of Northern Voices Oral School for the Deaf, which Ward & Maggie’s daughter Lucy previously attended.
Rob is our National Sales Manager. He grew up on a 450 acre farm in the heart of Wisconsin. When he’s not on the road meeting with customers, he enjoys spending his time with his family (wife Jen, son Jackson and 2 pups, Breuer and Sasha) and cheering on the Packers, Badgers, Brewers and Bucks. He’s also very sensitive about the whole Brett Favre thing.
When Cole, our Eastern US/Canada Sales Rep, is away from Elke, his German Shepherd, it means he’s on the road conducting store trainings, demos and meeting customers. Otherwise you can find him laying tracks outdoors in the form of hiking, snowboarding, and cycling. He also enjoys photography, culinary arts and he's studying to receive his pilot's license. Hopefully that will save us on his travel expenses!
Jared is our Southwest Sales Rep and lives in San Diego, CA. When he's not on the road, he enjoys spending time with his family (wife Rebecca and daughter Elysse – not to mention their dogs Luna and Angel) going to the Zoo, the beach, and hiking around the California Hills. He also loves to cook so when he gets home from a work trip he likes to make sure all of his girls are eating the best they can!
Jeff is our Northwest Rep residing in Seattle, WA. He enjoys spending time with his family (wife Tiffany, son Drake, and dog and cat Sampson and Pokey). An avid foodie, he enjoys finding all the local hotspots wherever he may wander. You can find him on his days off playing miniature golf, riding his bike, or in an intense soccer match with the neighborhood kids. An avid sports fan he roots for all Northwest teams from the Oregon Ducks to the Seattle Mariners – but his favorite team of all is the Washington Redskins (nobody told him they were from Washington D.C. until he was 10).
Sarah leads our customer service team. She is a proud dog-mom to a hyperactive Catahoula Cur Hound, Annie. Having an educational background in Traditional Herbal Medicine and Nutrition, she loves to talk to our customers about all things holistic in the veterinary world. When not in the office, she is usually out seeing as much live music as humanly possible, hiking the trails at the dog park , and throwing a tennis ball for Annie (over and over and over and over and over).
Adam oversees all of the aspects of food production, freeze drying and shipping & receiving. Happily married to his wife, Nik (who also works at Sojos), Adam enjoys spending his time with her and their 3 dogs; Murphy (chocolate lab), Lily (rat terrier/lab mix) and Santo (flashy brindle boxer). Adam also enjoys hunting, fishing, MN Wild hockey and the Green Bay Packers.
Joe is the Production Coordinator for Sojos. He has held various positions in the pet industry over the last 25 years, working for Sojos for the past 6. Along the way he’s been involved in every department of manufacturing plant-wide at Sojos. He lives on a hobbyfarm with his wife Kim, and their 5 Australian Shepherds, raising natural sheep and ducks. He enjoys traveling with his dogs to herding trials around the country, as well as hosting trials and clinics on his own farm.
Darrick wears many hats, but primarily he is our Ingredient Procurement Specialist. A man of mystery and power, whose power is exceeded only by his mystery. Pet-dad to one rambunctious dog, Digby (who commutes to Sojos HQ with him) and two carnivorous cats. Darrick is newly wed and is enjoying the first-time throws of home ownership one paint brush at a time. He has a love for organized efficiency, bean counting, and TPS reports. (He’s working on training Digby to file said TPS reports.)
Shelby leads our bakery and finishing departments and has been with Sojos for 3+ years. Father of two girls, he grew up in Willmar Minnesota but has lived the the Twin Cities for most of his life. Rounding out the family is a cat (Eco) and the girls' dog, Tucker, who grew up on Sojos and still comes to work on occasion. Tucker is not that picky, but like Shelby, Apple Dumpling is his fave.
Brennan has led our packaging team since 2010. A working musician by night, you can usually find Brennan with a cup of coffee in one hand and a wrench in the other, trying to cut partial seconds off a filling cycle. His pit/lab mix Monty comes to work every day waiting patiently for that magic word, “overage”. Outside Sojos, Brennan enjoys canoeing, camping and telecasters. He also fronts the Twin Cities least-traditional traditional music revue, Shredneck.
Nik has been with Sojos for almost 2 years and is our Shipping & Receiving Lead. Her husband, Adam and her recently bought a house in St. Paul for them and their 3 dogs, Murphy, Lily and Santo. Born and raised in Wausau, WI, Nik loves gardening, football, the Wisconsin Badgers and is a die-hard Green Bay Packer fan. In her opinion, a Packer game at a snowy Lambeau Field is about as good as it gets.
Isabel is our mill lead, and has been a proud Sojos employee since 2008. Isabel began as a baker, and in early 2012 she switched departments to find new knowledge and challenges in the mill. During her career at Sojos she has had many nicknames; "the dough whisperer", "moon boot" and "the warrior princess", to name a few. Isabel's five year old bilingual daughter, Charlie, loves to hear her mom talk about the comida para perros factory and often wants to make drawings for all her mom's amigos at work. Besides Sojos and raising Charlie, Isabel is an avid fan of music. A self-taught multi-instrumentalist herself, the warrior princess has played in various rock'n'roll bands around the Twin Cities for the past eight years.
Joey Watkins, or Jersey, as he is often called, is our Bakery Lead. He moved to Minnesota from New Jersey in 2009 and began working at Sojos in December of 2011. Joey began in the Mill, but took a training opportunity in the Bakery and never left. Joey loves the New York Giants and, unfortunately, the Yankees as well. He also loves the movies and music, especially the kind he can dance to. We also view Jersey as “the hype man” at Sojos as he brings an energy and voice that cannot be matched.
Our beloved Frank was General Manager of Sojos until his sudden passing in October 2012. We can't bare to remove him from this page because his presence is still felt at Sojos everyday. The impact that he had on this company and all who work here will be felt forever. We miss you, Frank – and we're going to keep making you proud!